B i o g r a p h y (by Stanton Swihart)
The orchestral folk-pop of the Gentle Waves was primarily the brainchild of singer/songwriter Isobel Campbell, best known as the cellist and occasional vocalist for Scottish twee phenoms Belle and Sebastian. Recorded with the aid of fellow B&S members Stuart Murdoch, Richard Colburn, Chris Geddes, Mick Cooke, and Stevie Jackson following the group's 1998 U.S. tour, the Gentle Waves' debut LP Green Fields of Foreverland was released on Jeepster Records the following spring. Swansong for You was issued in fall 2000. Green Fields of Foreverland delivers upon the promise of Isobel Campbell's sparkling contributions to the albums and singles of Belle and Sebastian -- highlights like "Dirty Snow for the Broken Ground" and "Rose I Love You" are exquisite folk-pop gems in the vein of The Boy with the Arab Strap's "Is It Wicked Not to Care?," and with bandmates like Stuart David and Stevie Jackson on board, it's the next best thing to a new B&S album. Swansong for You picks up right where the debut The Green Fields of Foreverland left off, which is to say with more gentle waves of pure orchestral pop loveliness. All the same characterizations hold true. Isobel Campbell's compositions are hauntingly wistful and dreamy, with many of the same echoes from her work in Belle & Sebastian and a plethora of nods to the softer strains of 1960s pop, while retaining a diffuse and ethereal haze, like the dew-dappled light of morning, or perhaps like Scottish winters. The music often sounds like a delicate web being torn apart, but even in its most hushed moments it teems with intensity. "Falling From Grace" and "There Is No Greater Gold" could have been pickpocketed directly off Margo Guryan's cult 1968 soft pop album, Take a Picture; Campbell's voice, in fact, is a dead ringer for Guryan's gossamer whisper -- singing that can hypnotize you. The same goes for the elegant and guileless bossa nova of "Pretty Things," which covers in sweetness what it lacks in lyrical sophistication, as does the updated girl group ballad "Flood." Campbell just as often recalls a female version of Nick Drake. It is a nearly empty comparison now, having been thrown in Belle & Sebastian's direction literally dozens of times, not to mention attaching itself to every dour singer/songwriter and slowcore band of the '90s, but on the gorgeous "Loretta Young," the influence of Five Leaves Left is unmistakable. A pair of musical anomalies, however, offers the album's most intriguing moments. "Partner in Crime" borrows a few melodramatic effects from "The Little Drummer," especially the martial snare taps and the drawn-out narrative. It is really more of a short story than a song, filled with involved, poetic lines and a complete plot, while the album's centerpiece is the completely groovy, left field departure, "Sisterwoman," which can only (though nervously) be classified as garage pop. Opening with a ridiculously simple beat and piano groove reminiscent of the Violent Femmes classic "Raisin in the Sun," Campbell proceeds to layer on and incorporate fabulously unforeseen musical elements: rock & roll rhythm guitar, Booker T. & the MG's organ fills, incredible Stax-style horn charts. On top of it all, she gives a subtly campy vocal performance, at once recalling the Go-Go's and literal go-go singers of the '60s, specifically Nancy Sinatra, as well as British waifs like Lulu. It is unlike anything out of the Belle & Sebastian catalog or, for that matter, anything recorded previously by the Gentle Waves. It doesn't entirely fit with the rest of the album in sound or spirit, but nevertheless displays a different side of Campbell and, hopefully, points to an avenue ripe for future exploration by this most delightful of side projects.
The Green Fields Of Foreverland
Hangman In The Shadow The clock may not mean much to rabbits and owls Depending on darkness and light To fly in the night or to hide in a hole We can do both fairly well But what is this ticking that saves us from sleep From light and from warm peace of mind? It's tin and it's cold and is brutal in years It's emptiness and broken tears We'll lie under blossom, we'll dance in the field 'Til rocks start to fall from the sky We'll swim in the river, and bathe in the sea And lay 'til our bodies are dry Then what is this beating that saves me from sleep? It's wondering, waiting to try The whole world around me is solemn and old And loneliness answers my sigh Evensong For a bit of loyalty I would pay you handsomely While you're killing time You could help fill mine With a bit of honesty If you're feeling kind of beat If you're feeling incomplete Don't be too surprised Open up your eyes There's a harsh reality When a person's sad and lonely Sometimes they will cry When the sun comes out to meet them Then their tears run dry And it's nearly not so bad When you learn of how to add up All the good around And you can paint the town With a sad kind of beauty When a person's sad and lonely Sometimes they will cry When the sun comes out to meet them Then their tears run dry Life is hard and life is cruel If you often blow your cool When hope lets you down And you feel a clown For there's little honesty For a bit of loyalty I would pay you handsomely With music as sweet as wine Rapture that's divine If you keep me company You could sing along with my evensong It might ease the drudgery Renew & Restore In the morning he will rise When the matches are replaced Then the ember left will soon become A fire to be embraced It will burn all around For as far as the eye can see 'Til it seems there'll never be a time To run and be carefree Blow, blow Don't let go Renew and restore Walk out the door Renew, restore Will a broken spirit help Can it help in any way 'Cos he's empty and quite heavy now With nothing left to say And it happened very fast Only in a year or two While the circle closed around him It was cold and old and blue Blow, blow Don't let go Renew and restore Walk out the door Renew, restore Blow, blow Don't let go Renew and restore Walk out the door Not any more Emanuelle, Skating On Thin Ice He may want to save you For there's nothing I can do I could entertain you But it's making me so blue And we've been here before And I've walked out the door When the ice looks decidedly thin So I pull myself out, take a look all about Soon I'm skating around I've fallen back in He may be the great thing So there's nothing I can do I just want to love here Until it's time to move Will he smile at me back Try to tell me the facts When the strangers don't harbour a care? For the stories we're sold, when we're seven years old Of the princes of old, it's not really fair He may want to save you For there's nothing I can do I could entertain you But there's too much, too much to lose Rose I Love You Around the world There's millions like you Right under our feet How should you compete? There's pictures to show The big brains who know And newspapers tell Of fashion and wealth Around the world I love you the same It's not for your looks It's not for your name The thorns won't help To me you're unique The tigers will go The tigers are weak Around the world Before we were tamed We were very small But now we stand tall Enchanted Place I'm not looking for a king in some fancy land I'm not looking for a prisoner to take my hand Those old scenes with glory dreams are so very dull to see People do you wrong or do you right, some pass you by Pain and pleasure mixed together proves that we're alive For the presence of the caterpillar brings the butterfly Though we might be alone And nothing can belong to you Though we might be alone There's a girl I know who talks to me and feels the same There's a girl I know who helps to take away the pain With the lion that's beside us we are in a special place Until it's time to go I'll stay with her not asking how Got to try our best to stay within the here and now With the trumpet and the violin and not the final bow Though we might be alone There's something better about two Though we might be alone It may be true Tree Lullaby Get watered and you'll grow Love and you will know All the lovely things there are to see Drink the flavour in Slowly to begin Basking in the arbour with the trees Try and fight disease Grow as you please Years come, years go Don't fall to the forest floor When it's too dark Don't lose your heart There's a silver moon above Don't give up your search for love Spring the forest wakes Summer blossom makes Autumn appear threatening distant freeze Leaves fall to the ground Winter comes around Temporarily barren ill at ease If they cut you down Steal you from the ground Return from whence you came Life's a strange and fragile game Reach up very high Reach up to the sky Turning in for shelter when you need Have water and you'll grow Love and you will know Of the many ways life can lead Dirty Snow For The Broken Ground At the party what was happening With the colour that was dazzling And the passport smiles making everything worthwhile Shining offering a show They can have their fame and holidays I will try to think of other ways What is bad I know and the good is hard to show But I'm hoping for a time We could dream about a pretty place You could stare into a stranger's face All in awe of her charm, then whisper false alarm Still they kick around the town But if not for you Then I mightn't do the things I wanted to And if not for me... Wait and see, wait and see... I will not be proud of jewellery But it's okay you can visit me On the steps of my door, tell the truth and nothing more Magic over broken ground But my doorstep has seen better days People stay away it's out of place 'Cos it's all gone wrong to be truthful as a song Footsteps dirty in the snow Weathershow People wait They sit in and watch the telephone People cry When all they're wanting turns out wrong It's strange Rearrange It's just change Be a girl See how hopeless she can be With the boy Who gets you on a see-through lead It's strange Rearrange It's just change And the rain Never stops for anyone And the cold Just gets worse while we grow old The one Who loves the sun Here they come A Chapter In The Life Of Mathiew I will change my mind a hundred times today I don't know where to go I really want to play I want to be with people who can show me love I want to be with people who I'm worthy of... And so, kiss them goodbye And so, kiss them goodbye When Mathiew played guitar he put it in a cage He showed it to the people They said he had it made He left it at the counter of the lost and found He wanted to see clearer so he walked around And so kiss them goodbye And so kiss them goodbye And so kiss them goodbye And so kiss them goodbye Soon he found the place where people learn to act Where people can decide Then it can't go back God and angels love, easy smile and pray but I will change my mind a hundred times today... So kiss them goodbye And so kiss them goodbye So kiss them goodbye And so kiss them goodbye It's brave to cry To Salt A Scar Even still they are wondering Is it so and is it real? Touch and see and breathe it in Only one knows how to feel Cowboy, cowboy feel Late at night he is wandering For a poor misguided star Dirt and sand what loves you best? Time then money, salt and scar In the dark when I think of you Flesh and focus all around Skin then dust and disappear Only some know how to feel Cowboy, cowboy feel Cowboy, cowboy feel
Swansong For You
Let The Good Times Begin Oh, loneliness Lonely times we're spending Life made in dreams Lost in sleep descending If all we see is all to believe Then let the music play Let's not think of tomorrow Friends that I know Knew that I was searching Falling in love But it wasn't working Paul said "What we see is solely chemistry" So let the music play Let's not think of tomorrow Let's pledge a year to the stars And nighttime Safe from the day There is life without time And when light draws near we'll disappear The way that dreamers do In sleep intoxicating Oh, loneliness Lonely times we're spending Life made in dreams Lost in sleep descending If all we see is all to believe Then Billy bring your gin Let the good times begin Partner In Crime It happened in the summer, not so very long ago It was so warm and humid Elsie would go down to the old wood and pray for the wind to come She had a friend who swore you could evoke the angels simply by prayer She said "There are angels for every desire but you must believe, you have to believe" So by the time the sun was buried along with the stale air a plan had formed very clearly in her mind She was a lonely girl of around twenty or so, and as she knelt down to pray in the old wood under the town, her heart would beg and plead I desire a partner in crime I've grown tired of endless crying I desire a partner in crime I've grown tired of endless crying Crying for nothing And the roses hung their weary heads like people do when they are heavy and without hope. The seasons passed January, February under the trees and there were tulips amongst the firs. Elsie was twenty-three twenty-four twenty-five and the underpass was dark and dense with light at the seams where the trees were broken and the branches were reaching out for they had witnessed her prayers, and there was promise in the wind, a promise of better things. I desire a partner in crime I've grown tired of endless crying I desire a partner in crime I've grown tired of endless crying Crying for nothing The years flowed on and on like the wine that celebrated marriages of friends and sisters Elsie began to think that even if her wish materialized she could not sacrifice a life that was so familiar Lonely, sad with an almost religious quality She remembered times spent in the old wood deep in prayer Aching,begging - thinking her heart might burst. Her friend had moved away unannounced She'd disappeared. There was no belief. And longer and longer there was less to give. Less love to give Of course there'd been lovers but nothing close to what she'd hoped for Before she'd felt electricity swelling in her palms - but not now Limp and hopeless life continued but it wasn't really living All she'd ever dreamed wished and yearned for had been stolen and shot down And the sky it echoed a warning And eternity was calling And the sky it echoed a warning And eternity was calling Calling for nothing Falling From Grace You make me satisfied You only want to ride But that's alright by me We happen to be free For what tomorrow brings No peace and broken wings It may have been so good But now it's understood 'Twas just a night If I could tear my heart And keep it miles apart From love of beast or man And never give a damn If I could learn to lie And never show my pride I'd be just like the rest Be someone I detest I'm always looking for the sun I'm always looking for the sun to shine Love... Destroys the best of us Then leaves the rest of us Thinking perhaps we'll die Yet still we stay alive Lost in a hollow frame With lonely tears remain Not knowing our life's worth Dragging around the earth How false the light You make me satisfied You only want to ride But that's alright by me We happen to be free And if we fall from grace At least we had a taste Of something more than this Unresolved black abyss I'm always looking for the sun I'm always looking for the sun I'm always looking for the sun I'm only looking for the sun to shine Loretta Young Loretta you're young Loretta you'll learn When someone takes you and loves you And loves you For I was young too With trouble like you It hurts when you throw love away Leave history for widows Wipe his story from windows Leave history for widows And learn to live again This old dusty house With it's dark, dampened past Your heart is broken So broken With a broom from the wall Sweep it away We're not sinless or stainless He'll arrange this Come down from your frozen ivory tower It hurts when you give love away But you'll get it right someday Loretta you're young Loretta you'll learn When someone takes you and loves you And loves you... Sister Woman He don't love you but it's alright He don't love you but it's alright Sisterwoman, you're all I've got When he's got nothing to do He'll wanna spend some time with you It's true that no one is to blame Bad lovin's always been the same He'll push it in then push you out I don't think that's what love's about When you ain't got no one you act like something's amputated When you aint got no one it feels so very strange Outside you are strong Inside you are dying Everyday Everyday Everyday is a step to the grave I'll stick with you until the death You gave me life you gave me breath Through blood and tears you cried my name No other bond would be the same In silence I will pray for you For some love will pull you through Listen... He don't love you but it's alright He don't love you but it's alright Sisterwoman, you're all I've got Solace for Pain Help me when I'm sad and lonely I would never do you harm But this life is unfamiliar I don't mean to cause alarm If I were to put the big light out Surely there would be an end? If I were to face a new day Surely I would need a friend? Sir you do possess such kind eyes Many are so vacant where Ought to be a patient tenderness I would take my refuge there Sir you do possess such kind eyes Like a saint in books of old Painted with a hue of prophecy Speak the fate we must behold: When the swallow has flown And the night is getting cold Turn away from hopelessness There'll be solace for your pain Someday Someday Someday... Flood Rain is falling from the sky It touches everything Brings new life... He came in April The month of rain Sweeter than anything It changed my life To know what love is Love in the water Our hearts were happy then Loving each other There is sorrow in the eyes Of the people in my life They are hungry They can't see Pray for a flood To swallow us up He left in June you see Left me dry Blood chilled with bitterness There was another... With the storm clouds above me I wait for rain And look to the mountaintops To hear his voice There is sorrow in the eyes Of the people in my life They are hungry They can't see Pray for a flood Pray for a flood Pray for a flood Pray for a flood Pretty Things Do you like pretty things? Would you caress broken wings? To truly smile, to face the day Do you like pretty things? And in time did you know Pretty things always go? A smile can never go away It ought to be the face today Castles melt in the sand But you could still touch my hand And have a dream, then go away If you like pretty things Can you mend broken wings? Do you know of these things? First at a glance you'd think you might If you like pretty things There Is No Greater Gold Love used to be a stranger to me Love was so disappointing I was waiting for a sign I was looking for some company So I took a walk outside What a lucky day I saw the devil waiting for me He'd bullets and green paper He'd been walking through the earth Swinging to and fro and down in it* As I turned to walk away That's when I saw your face... Love, there is nothing better than this Love, think of all the chances we miss See the people walking by With their mobile and computer eyes If they'd just afford the time There is no greater gold Love, I don't think I'll see you again It isn't easy you say we're friends When you opened up your heart Just enough to make me see again When you stopped to take my hand It was meant this way It was meant this way *Quotation from the Book of Job 1.6 There Was Magic, Then When I was a girl, I dreamt of dancing I dreamt of many things the heart could hold I'd nurse my doll, would love and care for him Would breathe life into him For I believed The world was grand with many precious things Fine air, such precious things It was my world The wind would blow wild with imaginings I was so happy in my little world For the days were long in the summertime With the sweetest taste in the summertime There were secrets made in the summertime There was magic... Now I have grown and life is kind to me I have some misery but don't we all? Our path is so long that many lose their way Longing with everyday for what went wrong? For the days were long in the summertime With the sweetest taste in the summertime There were secrets made in the summertime There was magic... Below the sky, lost children find their way Weaving through life's highway through joy, through pain When summer has gone darkness can swallow you And happy times once new Will fade to grey Yet, if my dreams were to all burn today I wouldn't run away, call me a fool For I believe And if I never see If it's denied to me, quite lost I'd say Oh the days were long in the summertime With the sweetest taste in the summertime There were secrets made in the summertime There was magic... Oh the days were long in the summertime With the sweetest taste in the summertime There were secrets made in the summertime There was magic
Non Albums Tracks Evensong (French Version) ( Weathershow EP ) Pour un peu de dévouement Je te paierais largement Seule tu perds ton temps Donne moi un moment Sincèrement et honnêtement Si tu te sens malheureux Si ta vie te semble creuse Ne sois pas surpris Que tes jours se brisent Et tes heures soient douloureuses Quand on est triste et solitaire On ne sait que faire Il faut lever les yeux plus haut Voir les choses plus clair Regarde la vie autour de toi Fais face à la beauté qu'il y a Tu peux chanter et danser Avec toute ta volonté Il ne faut pas penser qu'à soi Quand on est triste et solitaire On ne sait que faire Il faut lever les yeux plus haut Voir les choses plus claires La vie est dure et cruelle A en perdre la cervelle Et rester dans l'espoir Mais il faut y croire Car il n'y a rien sans elle Pour un peu de dévouement Je te paierais largement Ma musique enchantée Mon coeur enflammé Nous te tiendrons compagnie Partage avec moi les douces mélodies Nous avons tout le temps Going Home ( Falling From Grace EP ) Seems you have forgotten How to know your feelings Since you have forgotten I'm going home You were often hot, dear Then you'd drop to deep freeze I'd be down on my knees And you'd say "no" You were once a lifeline Best friend and a lover Unlike any other You broke that spell Now there's only questions Answers never find you They will only bind you Fate suits you well Just let go Listen to the traffic Flowing with breeze Wonder where they're off to? I'm almost there Maybe in this lifetime Someone soon will find me If their soul is smiling I'll know it well
Hold Back A Thousand Hours ( Falling From Grace EP ) Hold back a thousand hours Though some day our eyes will meet Show me your gentle face For I see the treasure there Try to communicate together For we are one Lay back on your sleepy head And feel love against our skin How many suns will set Before my true love draws near? Hold back a thousand hours For one day our eyes will meet October's Sky
( Falling From Grace EP ) We were far from home out travelling Underneath October's sky They're safe and warm, we're riding Trying to keep a dream alive Later when they turned the lights on I could see the distance go Never had I felt so lonesome How were they supposed to know? I love you When will we stop feeling haunted? For our ancient love must die Never had the stars shone brighter Underneath October's sky